Hunters, Ecologists Wooed By Candidates

Earley, Warner Spar Over Open Space, Clean Water

July 28, 2001|By HUGH LESSIG Daily Press

RICHMOND — The Virginia governor's race has shifted to the great outdoors faster than you can say "nontidal wetlands."

Actually, that environmental issue has yet to surface. But over the past few days, Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Mark Earley have sparred over saving open space, clean water programs and who has the most passion for the right to hunt and fish.

But while there is plenty of debate in them thar hills, this week's discussion has only scratched the surface, environmentalists say. Sure, they're happy to see these issues discussed relatively early in the campaign. But they fully expect Warner and Earley to take firm stands on many complex topics between now and November.

Chuck Epes, a spokesman for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, is anxious to know what Earley and Warner will say about the Chesapeake Bay 2000 agreement. Signed by Gov. Jim Gilmore last year, the agreement spells out long-range goals for cleaning up the Bay and surrounding area.

Among them: upgrading sewage treatment plants, rewarding farmers for reducing runoff, restoring oysters and preserving land in the Bay watershed. The foundation says meeting all those goals could cost around $8.5 billion by 2010.

For the environmental community, it is not enough for candidates to embrace the agreement as a concept.

"Where the rubber meets the road is when you say precisely and specifically what you are going to do," Epes said.

Glen Besa, director of the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club, said the candidates must say more about issues such as sprawl, the preservation of wetlands and how the state will enforce existing environmental regulations.

"We will do everything we can to prompt candidates to respond to environmental concerns," he said. "It's up to the environmental community to make them respond."

Here are the issues and the debates so far:

CLEAN WATER

Warner on Friday promised to develop a comprehensive policy to ensure access to clean drinking water. He says Virginia doesn't have one now, and 46,000 Virginia households have either incomplete or no indoor plumbing.

He promised to appoint "a senior state official" to help streamline the process by which water projects are funded. He promised to spend more state money on drinking-water needs, because that could lead to more federal funds. But he didn't commit to an actual figure.

Warner has been attacked for distorting Earley's record on the clean-water issue. A recent Warner ad in a deer hunter's magazine said Earley "voted with environmentally unfriendly interests" to abolish a clean-water testing program.

The ad cited Earley's vote in favor of the 1994 budget. He was in the Senate at that time, and he supported a budget that cut funding to a water- monitoring program.

Kendall said other environmentally friendly lawmakers supported that budget, including former delegate Tayloe Murphy, arguably the General Assembly's strongest voice on the Chesapeake Bay.

Also, the cut was among those suggested by state officials, who were responding to a request for cuts by previous Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, a Democrat.

Warner spokesman Mo Elleithee defended the ad. Had Earley felt strongly enough about the water- testing program, he could have tried to amend the budget bill.

"The budget bill is a statement of the state's priorities," he said.

HUNTING AND FISHING

In the same Virginia Deer Hunter's Association magazine, an Earley ad claimed he "mobilized a grass-roots effort" to ensure passage of a constitutional amendment that preserves the right to hunt and fish. Voters approved the amendment in November.

That brought a volley from Sherry Crumley, who chairs Sportsmen for Warner. She led a movement last year to win passage of the amendment and did not remember ever talking to Earley.

"He did not mobilize a grass-roots effort to ensure the amendment passed because that's what I did," she said. "He's puffing up his role."

Not so, said Kendall. Last fall, even before Earley won the GOP nomination, his campaign mailed 2,500 letters to sportsmen urging them to get behind the hunting and fishing amendment.

"We would not diminish her efforts," Kendall said, referring to Crumley. "We knew she was beating the bushes on this for months."

OPEN SPACE

Earlier this week, Warner discussed a plan to set aside $40 million annually to acquire and preserve open space. The money would come from taxes paid every time a deed is recorded. The plan is based on legislation sponsored by two state lawmakers in the 2001 session. It also had the backing of House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins Jr., R- Amherst. The legislation died in the House Appropriations Committee, which controls spending.

In discussing open space, Warner criticized Gilmore, saying, "The present administration has failed to make the kind of commitment that will be necessary to make a difference."

Gilmore later fired back on his monthly radio show, suggesting Warner would have to raid money from existing transportation projects, because that's where a portion of recordation taxes are spent.

Elleithee said Gilmore didn't understand Warner's proposal. Money would be dedicated to open space after transportation and other projects get their share.

Hugh Lessig can be reached at (804) 225-7345 or by e-mail at hlessig@dailypress.com